Aides to Glenn Youngkin, who is in the last week of a tight race against Democrat Terry McAuliffe, said they were caught off guard by the former president’s Wednesday afternoon statement. Trump confidants, meanwhile, were initially coy about whether he was being serious, with staff noting his penchant for mischief-making and trolling by tweet.

Within a few hours, there was some clarity. Trump wasn’t actually planning to stop in the commonwealth, at least not imminently, according to aides…

In the end, however, a swing through Virginia won’t come before the votes are cast. And critics of Trump said they suspected he wasn’t visiting precisely so that he could take credit after the fact for a Youngkin win or play Monday morning quarterback should Youngkin lose.

“He wants to have the ability to call himself the winner no matter what happens, so staying away preserves all his options in the aftermath,” said Tucker Martin, a former Republican consultant in Virginia.